Ring O’ Fire



This name was affectionately given to me by Colita after I told her that my afro is now bright orange. Oh my gosh! What’s a sista gonna do- I have a speaking engagement on Friday morning? Thats what I get for letting my friends play in my hair.

It’s wild how we grow and watch our friends grow. After reading Muvie’s 100 Why List ( BTW- I’m talking about Ruby- I call her Muvie cuz my son couldn’t pronounce her name and he would call her Muvie) I was floored. That chick rode out! I remember when I first met Muvie. She was so stank. She thought she was running thangs on the yard. This chick even rolled her eyes at me when I said Hi to her in the student government office.

Funny how we kept bumping into each other cuz we were in the same college and sometimes we struck up conversations just to be cordial- ya know- Black women being professional about their business. Then when I moved to a bigger apartment after I had my second son, who was my new neighbor- Muvie. In fact, she had just moved across the way, out of the very apartment that I was moving into. #402 Brings back memories for both of us.

We started kicking it and that was it. I admired a lot about her. She was bolder than I was and younger and more stylish. She seemed to be pretty “together” about hers but I really fell in love when I realized that she was just like me on the inside, hoping for a bright future and ambitious enough not to rely on hope alone.

Believe it or not it’s only been a year and a half since I’ve known her. I can’t believe it myself. She ranks up there among the select few who have actually gotten close to me and withstood the storm. I can be a bit much at times.

Jackson G’s blog has me thinking about all of the cool friends I made in college. In fact, besides my two bestfriends from highschool and Dianna, all of my friends are chicks from Gainesville. They’ve been around for years. With the exception of Muvie, I met all of them before I even had kids. So they’ve seen me be wild and crazy and watched as I accepted Christ and most of them have too. I know it has been rough for them to watch so much drama unfold in my life, but I thank God that none of them walked away.

Sorry, I’m so sentimental. But for the past 6 years my GIRLS have been my family. I had no mama around to hold me while I was going through my pregnancies alone. I didnt have any daddy to send me money when I was broke. Shit was deep- but my girls saw me through.

Watching everyone leave was very hard on me. If you remember it was just 3 weeks after Muvie (Ruby) moved to Atlanta that I moved back down to Miami. I couldn’t live like that anymore. I had only one friend left- and she was getting married- PLUS I hated my job.

Ahhhh.. I once heard somewhere that friends are the family you get to choose. I don’t think I chose my friends though. I believe they were a gift.

And I am so grateful for them.